By TERENCE POON BEIJING -- China's Ministry of Commerce said Sunday it is formally starting to investigate some "unfair" imports of chicken products from the U.S., advancing a case it had first flagged two weeks ago.
The ministry said Sept. 13 that it was examining complaints from domestic companies that some chicken-product imports were being dumped in the Chinese market and benefiting from subsidies, after the U.S. said it would impose duties of 25% to 35% on Chinese tire imports for the next three years.
Beijing has protested the tire tariffs, saying they aren't in the interests of both nations. But it has also tried to keep bilateral ties on a steady keel, signaling its commitment to resolving the issue through international law by taking it to the World Trade Organization.
Chinese President Hu Jintao told U.S. President Barack Obama last week Beijing hopes such sanctions won't be used again, according to foreign-ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu. Mr. Hu looks forward to President Barack Obama's November visit to China, said Mr. Ma. Mr. Hu returned to Beijing on Saturday.
The ministry said Sunday it will make decisions over the chicken product issue based on laws and facts. It added the antidumping and antisubsidy investigations are likely to end by Sept. 27, 2010, but could be extended to March 27, 2011. It added it will investigate claims the U.S. government helped U.S. chicken-product exports in 10 ways, such as providing subsidies on export-credit guarantees or subsidies under programs to boost exports.
The ministry said it will look into the subsidies and dumping for the period from July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009. It will investigate damages to the local industry for the period from Jan. 1, 2006 to June 30, 2009.
The ministry didn't elaborate on preliminary reviews of another complaint, by the local automobile industry. The ministry had said Sept. 13 it would also look into complaints about auto product imports from the U.S.—Liu Li contributed to this article.
Write to Terence Poon at
terence.poon@dowjones.com 
